Saffron Teaching School Hub News Feed - Early Career Programme news

Early Career Training Programme - Autumn Term update

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:55:15 GMT

As the new academic year gets underway, our Early Career Teacher and Mentor training sessions have set a positive and purposeful tone across the region. With a blend of in-person and online events, participants have praised the sessions for being well-organised, relevant, and inspiring.

Welcome Back - Early Career Training Programme

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 10:17:47 GMT

This September, Early Career Teachers and their mentors across Essex are embarking on an inspiring journey as they begin our new Early Career Training Programme.

In the last fortnight, we are also delighted to have welcomed our Year 2 ECTs and mentors back to their training, as they continue their programme of development. Designed to support and empower educators at the start of their careers, the programme blends evidence-based learning with practical, in-person events hosted at key locations throughout the region.

A Year of Growth, Reflection & Connection: Highlights from the Saffron Early Career Programme 2024–25

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 08:44:25 GMT

As the 2024–25 academic year draws to a close, Saffron Teaching School Hub's Early Career Programme community has much to celebrate. Through training sessions, mentoring conversations, and reflective practice, ECTs and their mentors have shared a journey filled with insight, inspiration, and professional growth.

ECT Induction and the Early Career Teacher Entitlement

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 08:44:47 GMT

ECT Induction is a statutory two-year support and training programme for newly qualified teachers in England. It ensures early career teachers (ECTs) receive structured development, mentoring, and assessment during their first two years in the profession.

From September 2025, the Early Career Teacher Entitlement (ECTE) replaces the previous Early Career Framework (ECF)-based induction. ECT training programmes will be based on the ITTECF - an updated framework based on a combination of initial teacher training (ITT), core content framework (CCF) and the ECF.

The ECTE is designed to better integrate the training and development of new teachers with the latest educational research and classroom needs. The updated programme ensures that there is an increased focus on areas such as SEND, oracy, adaptive teaching and literacy, with more exemplification included for different phases, settings and subjects. In addition, mentors will have access to diagnostic tools to tailor content for their ECTs.

For mentors, from September 2025 there will be a one-year development programme designed for supporting and developing ECTs' practice.

The DfE update on the changes can be found here: ECTE Changes 2025

Saffron Early Career Programme - Summer Term conferences

Fri, 9 May 2025 14:04:48 GMT

It has been a fantastic start to the summer term for our Early Career Programme, with a range of ECT and mentor conferences taking place in April and May across the Hub region.

There were high levels of engagement throughout as we built on the prior knowledge of our delegates, with the ECT conferences focusing on adaptive teaching and supporting critical thinking, and the mentor conferences focusing on balancing support and challenge and building resilience.

Thank you to everyone who attended and to our host venues and expert facilitators.

Saffron Early Career Programme – Spring Term update

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 08:37:01 GMT

March brings to a close the Spring Conference offer for ECTs and their mentors on the Saffron Early Career Programme. This term has had a focus on Modules 3 & 4, which has developed our delegates' knowledge of examples, questioning and assessment. While our ECT2s continue to develop this through a subject or phase specific lens, our ECT1s have been introduced to key concepts and strategies to embed this within their classroom practice. Mentors developed their understanding of the importance of deliberate practice, alongside a focus on supporting the wellbeing of their ECT.

Early Career programme - subject specific sessions for ECT2s

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 12:11:25 GMT

With our transition to the Teach First programme in September 2024, our ECT2s will receive their Early Career programme through a subject lens, helping to make their learning more relevant to their experience.

This year, we are offering the following subject-specific groups: SEND*, EYFS, KS1, KS2, Business*, Drama*, English, Humanities, Maths and Computing, MFL, PE, Science (*in collaboration with the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Teaching School Hub).

The sessions for each group are led by a subject expert.

What is the impact so far of the Early Career Framework?

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 12:23:10 GMT

UCL are conducting a longitudinal study to evaluate the impact of the statutory framework for ECT induction introduced in September 2021. The new framework intends to support the retention of teachers and to improve teaching practice. The second interim report was published this year, focusing on ECTs’ and Mentors’ experiences with the Early Career Framework Programme.

Change of Lead Provider for our Early Career programme

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 12:13:02 GMT

From September 2024, the Lead Provider for Saffron Teaching School Hub's Early Career programme will be Teach First.

We would like to thank our current Lead Provider, Education Development Trust (EDT), for the very positive relationship we have had with them. The EDT team have been approachable and responsive to the issues we have raised and have enabled us to be innovative in our delivery. Our participants and facilitators have consistently been positive about the content of their programme which has always reflected EDT's commitment to being evidence informed.

Spring Term ECT Conferences

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 12:17:52 GMT

This term, the ECT1s on the Saffron Early Career Programme have had the opportunity to attend a regional event. We offered three venues on different dates and had over 50 ECTs at each one. This was an invaluable opportunity for ECTs to talk to each other and catch up with teachers from their ITT programmes last year.

The new ITTECF - what has changed?

Wed, 14 May 2025 16:59:00 GMT

A single curriculum framework resulting from a review of the Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework was launched by the DfE on 30^th January 2024. On 13^thFebruary 2024, we held a briefing about the new ITTECF to look at what has changed.

New ITTECF launched on 30th January 2024

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 12:19:02 GMT

A single curriculum framework resulting from a review of the Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework was launched on 30^th January 2024. The DfE have responded to feedback from schools and Teaching School Hubs particularly with respect to SEND, mentor capacity, subject specificity, duplication of content and progression from one year to the next.

Perspectives on the Early Career Professional Development Programme

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 12:16:59 GMT

We asked an ECT, a Mentor, an Induction Tutor, a Headteacher and a Facilitator to give their perspective on the Early Career Professional Development Programme with the Saffron Teaching School Hub.